Kicking the Seat

Ian and David unlock a May 2025 time capsule with a review of Angus MacLachlan's small town drama, A Little Prayer!

The film had its Midwest premiere at the Chicago Critics Film Festival in May, and recently became available On Demand. In this spoilerific discussion, the guys dig deep into this stunningly shot, beautifully acted story about an elderly father named Bill (David Strathairn) who discovers that his son, David (Will Pullen), is cheating on his wife, Tammy (Jane Levy). Complicating matters is the return of Bill's other daughter, Narcedalia (Dascha Polanco), who has just moved back into the family home with her own kid, as they seek refuge from Narce's criminal husband.

There are more twists and turns to this story, which is way more contemplative than this "Springer Show" description might suggest. Ian and David loved a lot about the film, but there are a couple of themes that rubbed one of them the wrong way.

Join us for a found-family, issues-hashing good time, and check out A Little Prayer wherever you stream movies--courtesy of Music Box Films!

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• Watch the A Little Prayer (2025) trailer.

• Plus! Listen to Ian and David's other recent (and very raucous) reviews of:

  • Are We Good? (2025)

  • Spinal Tap 2 / Megadoc (2025)

  • Being Maria / Last Tango in Paris (2025 / 1972)

  • The Unholy Trinity (2025)

  • Magazine Dreams (2025)

  • A Real Pain (2025)

  • Rebel Ridge (2024)

Today, Earth's Mightiest Critics look back on the life of a comedy legend with an unconventional panel review of John Candy: I Like Me!

Colin Hanks' presents a sprawling and thoroughly moving documentary about the star of SCTV, Uncle Buck, Planes, Trains & Automobiles, and dozens more comedy classics.

Featuring interviews with co-stars, family, and friends, I Like Me paints a portrait of a man haunted by childhood tragedy who spent the rest of his life taking care of others (be it direct altruism or simply by making them laugh)--possibly to the detriment of his own well being. Far from a downer, this film is a celebration of life in the truest sense.

Executive Producer Ryan Reynolds and friends recently screened the film at the Chicago Theatre, and several members of the EMC were there. Unfortunately, they couldn't all get together for roundtable, so Ian talked with Don, Cati, and David individually about several aspects of the doc, including its status as one of the best films this decade; the bizarrely performative nature of the Chicago Theatre Q&A; and the rise of the Celebrity Documentary genre.

John Candy: I Like Me is now streaming on Amazon Prime.

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• Watch the John Candy: I Like Me (2025) trailer.

• All proceeds from the I Like Me screening tour support St. Jude Children's Children's Research Hospital. If you are moved to do so, please learn more about this wonderful organization here.

• Support all of Earth's Mightiest Critics at their various outlets:

  • Keep up with Jeff York's criticism and caricatures at The Establishing Shot and Pipeline Artists.

  • Check out Mark "The Movie Man" Krawczyk's The Spoiler Room Podcast.

  • Get seated with The Blonde in Front!

  • Follow David Fowlie's film criticism at Keeping It Reel.

  • Get educated with Don Shanahan at Every Movie Has a Lesson…

    • ...And Film Obsessive

    • ...and the Cinephile Hissy Fit Podcast.

  • Keep up with Annie Banks at The Mary Sue.

    • ...and We Got This Covered.

  • Make Nice with Mike Crowley of You'll Probably Agree.

  • And save your celluloid soul with Dave Canfield’s Substack, "Creature Feature Preacher".

Earth's Mightiest Critics tag team Dwayne Johnson's bid for Acting Oscar gold with a roundtable review of The Smashing Machine!

Benny Safdie's biopic of UFC fighter Mark Kerr's rise and fall is definitely an A24 film: heavy on the drama, light on the sports movie cliches. Audiences, it seems, aren't too interested in "The Rock's" career outside the IP ring--but are they missing out?

Join us for a spoilerific critics' cage-match! We also take your questions, comments, and SuperChats!

Support Kicking the Seat on Patreon, subscribe to us on YouTube, and follow us at:

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Show Links

• Watch the Smashing Machine (2025) trailer.

• Support all of Earth's Mightiest Critics at their various outlets:

  • Keep up with Jeff York's criticism and caricatures at The Establishing Shot and Pipeline Artists.

  • Check out Mark "The Movie Man" Krawczyk's The Spoiler Room Podcast.

  • Get seated with The Blonde in Front!

  • Follow David Fowlie's film criticism at Keeping It Reel.

  • Get educated with Don Shanahan at Every Movie Has a Lesson…

    • ...And Film Obsessive

    • ...and the Cinephile Hissy Fit Podcast.

  • Keep up with Annie Banks at The Mary Sue.

    • ...and We Got This Covered.

  • Make Nice with Mike Crowley of You'll Probably Agree.

  • And save your celluloid soul with Dave Canfield’s Substack, "Creature Feature Preacher".

It's "Podception Day" at Kicking the Seat, as two podcasters podcast about a podcasting pioneer!

Steven Feinartz's documentary, Are We Good?, follows curmudgeonly comic Marc Maron through his early days on the standup scene, his battles with addiction, divorce, and losing the love of his life--all of which he has chronicled for nearly 16 years on his wildly influential show, "WTF with Marc Maron".

The podcast is best known for getting high-profile guests (Barack Obama, Paul McCartney, Robin Williams) to open up while sitting in Maron's suburban California garage, but Feinartz digs deeper into his subject's own stories to paint a fuller picture of a guy whose relationship to fame is...complicated.

In this spoilerific and (not surprisingly) divided discussion, Ian and David look for the good in Are We Good?, and come out the other side with more questions than answers--chief of which is, "Will non-Maron fans put up with his whining and narcissism for more than ten minutes?"

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• Watch the Are We Good? (2025) trailer.

• Read David's written review of Are We Good? at Keeping Reel.

• Plus! Listen to Ian and David's other recent (and very raucous) reviews of:

  • Spinal Tap 2 / Megadoc (2025)

  • Being Maria / Last Tango in Paris (2025 / 1972)

  • The Unholy Trinity (2025)

  • Magazine Dreams (2025)

  • A Real Pain (2025)

  • Rebel Ridge (2024)

  • Duchess (2024)

Today, Ian and Mark sniff out the good, the bad, and the ghastly with Ben Leonberg's Good Boy!

The offbeat supernatural thriller centers on Indy, a loyal and lovable dog whose owner, Todd (Shane Jensen), has taken him along to a secluded family cabin. Over several days, Indy sees and hears (and dreams!) menacing, otherworldly things lurking in shadows and the overcast woods.

Is something trying to possess his master? And what's with the other dog that keeps popping up, the creepy one with the red bandana tied around its neck?

Good Boy is a bold exercise that presents a horror movie from (more or less) a dog's point of view. But is form and style enough to carry a spooky genre film--or do Leonberg and co-writer Alex Cannon need more...training?

Find out what the guys think in this spoilerific review!

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• Watch the Good Boy (2025) trailer.

• Check out Mark "The Movie Man" Krawczyk's The Spoiler Room Podcast.

One of the year's best films opens in theaters this weekend, and today Ian sits down with Killing Faith star DeWanda Wise and writer/director Ned Crowley for a look at the making of this twisty, twisted, and powerful supernatural horror western!

The film centers on Sarah (Wise), a freed slave living on the outskirts of a desert town in 1849. She is determined to get to her daughter to a faith healer (Bill Pullman) in a neighboring territory, in the hopes that he can exorcise whatever evil causes instantaneous death in anyone (or anything) the little girl touches.

Along the way, Sarah collects a group of troubled outcasts, including a disgraced ether junky/doctor named Steelbender (Guy Pearce), whose atheism is put to the test with every bizarre encounter besetting their caravan.

In the following two interviews, Ian digs into Killing Faith's characters, the conditions under which this top-notch indie was pulled together, and how the film connects to Crowley's first feature, Middle Man--which he and Ian discussed nearly a decade ago.

Plus: You'll learn about Ned's surprise endorsement from the Master of Horror! Though you may not have heard of Killing Faith, it has Kicking the Seat's highest possible recommendation as a big screen experience if it's playing near you.

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• Watch the Killing Faith trailer.

• Bonus! Flash back to Ian's first interview with Ned Crowley (and Parks and Recreation star Jim O'Heir!) for his dazzling feature debut, Middle Man!

Critics are ecstatic over Paul Thomas Anderson's One Battle After Another. On this week's livestream you'll hear the Mightiest of them discuss why it may be 2025's best film.

You'll also get Ian's take.

Join us for a spoilerific system smasher--along with your questions, comments, and SuperChats!

Support Kicking the Seat on Patreon, subscribe to us on YouTube, and follow us at:

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Show Links

• Watch the One Battle After Another (2025) trailer.

• Support all of Earth's Mightiest Critics at their various outlets:

  • Keep up with Jeff York's criticism and caricatures at The Establishing Shot and Pipeline Artists.

  • Check out Mark "The Movie Man" Krawczyk's The Spoiler Room Podcast.

  • Get seated with The Blonde in Front!

  • Follow David Fowlie's film criticism at Keeping It Reel.

  • Get educated with Don Shanahan at Every Movie Has a Lesson…

    • ...And Film Obsessive

    • ...and the Cinephile Hissy Fit Podcast.

  • Keep up with Annie Banks at The Mary Sue.

    • ...and We Got This Covered.

  • Make Nice with Mike Crowley of You'll Probably Agree.

  • And save your celluloid soul with Dave Canfield’s Substack, "Creature Feature Preacher".

What's this? Ian had allegedly vowed not to talk about Superman 2025 after July's round table review; in fact, he'd announced a boycott of all DCU projects until writer/director/co-DCU head James Gunn stepped down.

So what gives? Well, the movie recently landed on 4K and after another evaluation, Ian has decided that... It still doesn't work.

But...

There's a fascinating documentary in the supplementary materials called "Adventures in Making Superman" that is well worth the price of admission. This "Featured Extras" segment looks at the bizarre ways in which the doc tiptoes around the movie it's allegedly about; draws an unexpected connection with Mike Figgis' recent film, Megadoc; and how it helped Ian appreciate the artistry, conflict, and Krypton-sized red flags that went into making what he considers an unforgivable misfire!

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• You can pick up Warner Bros' 4K UHD of Superman (2025) at Amazon (or wherever you snag physical media).

• Watch Earth's Mightiest Critics' review of Superman (2025), shortly after its July release!

• And watch Ian's "Public Service Announcement" regarding his future DCU viewing plans!

• As mentioned in the segment, "Adventures in Making Superman" has a fun connection to Megadoc, which Ian and David Fowlie recently reviewed.

Earth's Mightiest Critics have made their peace with Alien: Earth, and are prepared for an even-tempered, non-confrontational look at the Episode 8 Season Finale ("The Real Monsters").

Oh, who're we kidding?

We called it from Episode 1: This show is objectively awful, and we're here to break some coffins with the force of our righteous hammering!

Watch the latest episode of Alien: Earth now on F/X/Hulu, then join us for a searing send-off--and an answer to The Big Question: "Will we bother coming back for Season 2?"

We also take your questions, comments, and SuperChats!

Note: Some of this episode touches on points raised in this recent interview with Alien: Earth creator/showrunner Noah Hawley. Sorry, this is some really grueling homework.

Support Kicking the Seat on Patreon, watch us on YouTube, and follow us at:

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• Instagram

• Facebook

Show Links

• Watch the Alien: Earth (2025) trailer.

• Catch up with all our "Say No More, Xenomorph" roundtables in the Playlist!

• Support all of Earth's Mightiest Critics at their various outlets:

  • Keep up with Jeff York's criticism and caricatures at The Establishing Shot and Pipeline Artists.

  • Check out Mark "The Movie Man" Krawczyk's The Spoiler Room Podcast.

  • Get seated with The Blonde in Front!

  • Follow David Fowlie's film criticism at Keeping It Reel.

  • Get educated with Don Shanahan at Every Movie Has a Lesson…

    • ...And Film Obsessive

    • ...and the Cinephile Hissy Fit Podcast.

  • Keep up with Annie Banks at The Maryue.

    • ...and We Got This Covered.

  • Make Nice with Mike Crowley of You'll Probably Agree.

  • And save your celluloid soul with Dave Canfield’s Substack, "Creature Feature Preacher".

Earth's Mightiest Critics suit up for a look at the latest Jordan Peele (produced) thriller, Him!

It's "Any Given Sunday meets The Devil’s Advocate", starring Tyriq Withers as Cam Cade, a promising college football star who gets a chance to train with his pro-football hero, Isaiah White (Marlon Wayans). But during his grueling week at a state-of-the-art desert compound, Cam begins to suspect that fame and fortune might just come at a higher price than he'd...ahem...bargained for.

There's no getting around it: Justin Tipping's film is a mess, and we'll give you the cold, hard play-by-play of a movie whose premise and trailer are genuinely great--but whose execution is one of 2025's greatest disappointments!

Join us for a spoilerific scrimmage that also includes your questions, comments, and SuperChats!

Support Kicking the Seat on Patreon, subscribe to us on YouTube, and follow us at:

• X

• Letterboxd

• Instagram

• Facebook

Show Links

• Watch the Him (2025) trailer.

• Support all of Earth's Mightiest Critics at their various outlets:

  • Keep up with Jeff York's criticism and caricatures at The Establishing Shot and Pipeline Artists.

  • Check out Mark "The Movie Man" Krawczyk's The Spoiler Room Podcast.

  • Get seated with The Blonde in Front!

  • Follow David Fowlie's film criticism at Keeping It Reel.

  • Get educated with Don Shanahan at Every Movie Has a Lesson…

    • ...And Film Obsessive

    • ...and the Cinephile Hissy Fit Podcast.

  • Keep up with Annie Banks at The Mary Sue.

    • ...and We Got This Covered.

  • Make Nice with Mike Crowley of You'll Probably Agree.

  • And save your celluloid soul with Dave Canfield’s Substack, "Creature Feature Preacher".